The other day someone asked me how to give up taking care of her own business administrative tasks (doing the day-to-day bookkeeping in particular) without losing control. Great question. It is something every solo and small business owner faces one day. The business grows and bigger Clientele requires more of your time and attention. At one point you will realize: there is just not enough time any more to do it all.
While you were an early-stage startup, you may have time to do other things but caring for Clients and Customers. It at that time it might have been a good use of your time. Now it is different. And it is a good thing!!! But let’s admit: you still want to see your cash flow statement, P&L more than once a month to be sure your business is securely financed, your bills are paid and Clients invoiced.
Coming to the rescue of an overwhelmed business owner also means that the least changes introduced the better. Often enough there is no need to change the software used. VPN access would make it easy for both the virtual consultant doing the books and the owner to have 24/7/365 access.
Access to the consultant is also imperative –some business owners got used to having a bookkeeper coming to the business location and working from there. Questions could be asked and answered, solutions could be discussed.
I am personally not a fan of allowing a bookkeeper independently running an entity’s books on an offsite computer, without allowing full visibility to the business owner. Today’s fast-paced business environment demands access to real-time data and financial information. A business owner may need to look at cash situations, work on scenarios, look at client payment schedules any time – and it is not something hard to provide.
Having VPN access to an existing system in your office, or setting a new system up available in the Cloud for everyone is the way to keep full visibility and control of your books, and also promoting yourself. There is no more excuse for a DIY. Since all records are in the shared folders, there is no “lost control”. But it will benefit you, the solo or small business owner with more time to focus on your business and not on your business administration.
If you ever entertained the idea of going virtual on any or most of your business administration tasks, but feel like not seeing the full picture, worried about losing control or the level of security provided, please let me know. It would be my pleasure to answer any related question. Please visit us at (www.myvirtualcorporate.com)
While you were an early-stage startup, you may have time to do other things but caring for Clients and Customers. It at that time it might have been a good use of your time. Now it is different. And it is a good thing!!! But let’s admit: you still want to see your cash flow statement, P&L more than once a month to be sure your business is securely financed, your bills are paid and Clients invoiced.
Coming to the rescue of an overwhelmed business owner also means that the least changes introduced the better. Often enough there is no need to change the software used. VPN access would make it easy for both the virtual consultant doing the books and the owner to have 24/7/365 access.
Access to the consultant is also imperative –some business owners got used to having a bookkeeper coming to the business location and working from there. Questions could be asked and answered, solutions could be discussed.
I am personally not a fan of allowing a bookkeeper independently running an entity’s books on an offsite computer, without allowing full visibility to the business owner. Today’s fast-paced business environment demands access to real-time data and financial information. A business owner may need to look at cash situations, work on scenarios, look at client payment schedules any time – and it is not something hard to provide.
Having VPN access to an existing system in your office, or setting a new system up available in the Cloud for everyone is the way to keep full visibility and control of your books, and also promoting yourself. There is no more excuse for a DIY. Since all records are in the shared folders, there is no “lost control”. But it will benefit you, the solo or small business owner with more time to focus on your business and not on your business administration.
If you ever entertained the idea of going virtual on any or most of your business administration tasks, but feel like not seeing the full picture, worried about losing control or the level of security provided, please let me know. It would be my pleasure to answer any related question. Please visit us at (www.myvirtualcorporate.com)
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